Continuous rotary electroplating machine



Oct. 13, l925- H. B. FARRAND coNTINUoUs ROTARY ELECTROPLATING MACHINE 2 sheets-sheet 1 Filed June 27, 1923 Oct. 13 ,'1925. 1,557,474

v H. I3.v FARRAND CONTINUOUS ROTARY ELECTROPLATING MACHINE Patented Oct. 13, 1 925.

UNITED STATES PATENT oEFlcE.

HARRY B. FARRAND, 0F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

CONTINUOUS ROTARY ELECTROPLATING MACHINE.

' Application led June 27, 1923. Serial- No. 647,983. I

. cles to be plated by a. rotary barrel in which said articles will be progressively moved rearward while being subjected to the? plating process, and when the plating process is completed said articles will be delivered to a shoot or receptacle from which they will be elevated and conveyed to the point of de livery.

A further object of my invention is to subject the articles being plated to the flow of plating currents from opposite directions so as to effect plating upon opposite sides of the articles simultaneously.

With these and other ends in view, this invention consists in the details of construction and combination of elements hereinafter set forth and then specically designated by the claims'.

In order that those skilled in the art to which this invention appertains, may understand how to make and use the same, I will describe its construction in detail, referring by numerals to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this application, in which Fig. 1, is a plan view of a plating apparatus made in accordance with my improvements, a portion of the barrel being broken away to show the interior thereof.

Fig. 2, is an elevation one side of the vat being removed and a portion of the mechanism broken away and sectioned.

Fig. 3, is a section at the line 3 3 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrow.

Fig. 4, is a detail view of-the internal anode.

In carrying out my invention as here embodied 1 represents a vat or tank for'containing the plating solution and crosswise of this tank are secured the supporting beams 2 and 3 arranged in pairs and upon these beams are mounted .the bearings 4 in whichA are journalled the rolls 5.

6 represents the rotary barrel or cylinder having a flange 7 at each end thereof, and this barrel is supported upon the rolls 5 in such manner that the flanges 7 project between the beams 2 as clearly shown in Fig. 2 thus preventing any longitudinal movement of the barrel.

In order that power may be applied to the barrel for revolving the same a worm wheel S 1s secured upon its periphery and with this worm wheel meshes the worm 9 the latter being mounted upon the shaft 10v which is journalled in the bearings 11, and has a pul-l ley 12 secured upon one end thereof by .which the worm may be revolved through the medium of a belt' applied to said pulley.

The interior of the barrel is provided with a spiral rib 13, and the walls of this barrel are perforated as indicated at 14 in order that the plating solution may have free circulation through and within the barre 15 represents a hopper in which the articles to be fed to the barrel are placed and from which said articles pass downward through theopening 16 between the sliding board 17 and the deflecting partition 18 and reach the pocket 19 from which they are elevated by the carrier belt'20 running over the pulleys 21 and 22.

' As the articles fall from the carrier belt 20 as the latter passes around the pulley '22 they will be guided into the front end of the barrel, and as the latter revolves these articles will be successively carried rearward by the action of the rib 13 until they finally fall from the rear end of the barrel into the pocket 24 from which they will be elevated by the conveyer belt 25 running over.the pulleys 26 and 27, being thus delivered to the point ouside of the vat as will be readily understood.

28 represents two rods extending lengthwise of the vat and suitably supported thereby from which may be suspended the anodes 29 by means of the hooks 30 carried by said anodes and if desired the lower end of these anodes may be supported in any suitable manner.

A rod 31 extends through the barrel and is supported at each end in suitable bearings 32 and from this rod is suspended a series of chains 33 in such manner that the lower portion of said chains will ride upon the inner surface of the barrel as clearly shown in Fig. 3, said chains serving as cathodes.

I also provide a rod 34 which passes through the barrel and is supported in the bearmgs 35, this rod is utilized for the suspension of 'the interior anodes 36 said anodes being preferably, made in the form of a segment as shownnn Fig. 4 and having the suspending wires 37 attached thereto for convenience in suspending these anodes from the rod 34.

The rods 28 and 34 are electrically connected with asource of positive current while the rod 31 is connected with the negative.

From the foregoing description the operation of my improved apparatus will be obvious as follows:

The speed of the carrier belt 20 being so timed relative to the rotations of the barrel fthe small articles to be plated will be delivered in a continuous stream to the bar-rel and fed lengthwise of said barrel by the spiral rib, in `the meantime being constantl stirred and tumbled while the cur- 4,rent owing from the anodes 29 will )late the surfaces exposed in the direction o said anodes and the current flowing from the anodes 36 will plate the opposite exposed surfaces of said articles thus producing the desired thickness of plating in considerable lessl time than Where external anodes are utilized. This plating process will pro eeed automatically as long as the apparat-us is in operation and the articles supplied to the hopper thus lessening the time and labor and producing a better'quality of work.

Of co'urse I do not Wish to be limited to the exact details of construction as herein shown as these may be varied within the limits of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and useful is 1. In an apparatus of the character described a vat, a seriesl of rolls mounted withinsaid vat, a perforated barrel supported by said rolls,'a rib spirally disposed-within the barrel, a Worm Wheel mounted upon the barrel, a worm meshing with said worm wheel for revolving the latter, a hopper adapted to receive the articles to be plated, a conveyer for elevating said articles from the ho per; a shoot for conveying the articles rom the conveyer to the interior of the barrel; a pocket for receiving the articles from the barrel, a conveyer for clevating the articles from saidpocket; a series of anodes disposed adjacent to the barrel upon the outside thereof; a second series of anodes supported within the barrel and out of contact with the latter; and a series of flexible cathodes suspended within the barrel and arranged to 11e against the interior surfaces of said barrel; for use in a plating system an internal anode consisting of an arcuate section of plating metal. and suspending Wires attached to said barrel.4

2. An electroplating apparatus comprising a vat, supporting beams arranged. in pairs, the beams of each pair being spaced apart, rolls journalled upon said beams, a perforated cylinder mounted upon said rolls, a flange .at each end of the cylinder projecting between the beams of each pair to prevent longitudinal movement of the cylinder, a worm wheel on the cylinder intermediate its ends, a Worm meshing with the worm gear, means to revolve the worm, a spiral rib within the cylinder, anodes within the vat` and cathodes within the vat inside of the cylinder.

3. An electroplating apparatus comprising a vat, a perforated cylinder rotatably mounted within the vat, a spiral rib within the cylinder, means to rotate said cylinder, a stationary rod passing through the cylinder and adapted to be connected With a source of electric energy, a segmental anode, Wires yfastened to the anode and engaging the stationary rod to suspend said anode within the cylinder, another rod passing through the cylinder adapted to be connected with a source of electrical energy, and a flexible cathode attached to said last. named rod and lying on the interior surface of the cylinder.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto affixed my signature.

HARRY B. FARRAND. 

